Rosario Plus Vampire: The Raven
by denofzen
Summary: Thirteen years ago, Ruby, a witch with potential, was entranced by a raven. That day, she also lost her parents. Since then, she thought she had come to terms with their death but events that threaten to hurt her friends and family at Youkai Academy cause her to see that there was more to her parent's death than meets the eye.
1. ONE-SHOT

**A\N:** This is the one-shot which you are free to read, but the next chapter is the official beginning of the fanfiction. It will have no relation to this one-shot. As far as the overall fanfic goes, this is essentially my idea if Rosario + Vampire manga had continued. Enjoy!

* * *

The lonely witch sighed.

Sweeping up fallen leaves at the entrance of Youkai Academy, Ruby teared up at her misfortune. It was Summer break, marking the end of the third school year. There was hardly a peep within the school or the sprawling dead forest around.

Her friends had all left to their homes. No doubt after a few days, they would all hang out at Tsukune's place as usual. If she wasn't stuck as Mikogami's aide, she may have the freedom to take a break like all the other faculty and students. She wanted to visit Tsukune as well as check up on the Sunflower fields, paying respect for her master, Lady Oyakata.

However, she had the important job of helping maintain the Great Barrier of the academy. Regardless if everyone was gone except her, the Headmaster and the eerie janitors of the night, the secrecy of the school had to be kept.

"I don't even know why I'm doing this," she sighed again.

Letting go of the broom, it kept sweeping without her help thanks to her magic. She proceeded back into the school's massive front doors, her head hung and her eyes shut momentarily.

When she opened them, she found herself staring at another large door without warning. She blinked a few times, looking sideways to see hallways. Twisting to see behind, she didn't see the school entrance but a solid wall.

' _Ah…he's calling me again_ ,' Ruby thought, now recognizing she had been shifted to the Headmaster's office without any notice. Whenever this happened, it meant that she was needed. Sometimes, Mikogami would personally come over which usually mean a scare that she didn't need. Although unexpected, she would prefer this confusing teleportation over him popping his hooded head from the shadows any day.

Straightening herself up, she opened the engraved double doors to his office which creaked as she pushed forward. Her scarlet-orange eyes stared at the long office which had bookshelves to the side, a large rug laying out between her and Mikogami's desk. The man himself stared straight at her, piercing her from the shining diamond lights within shadows of his hood. She could barely make out his small grin from the darkness of the room.

"Um…you need me?" she asked hesitantly.

"I have an assignment for you, Ruby," he stated, sitting up from his desk. He shuffled a folder on his desk forward and then turned to look out the window behind him, the red sky slowly dimming.

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows and carefully tread forward, wondering if her lonely day was going to turn dangerous. She had been given assignments by the headmaster from time to time. It could be anything from stopping the source of a rumor that could threaten the secrecy of the academy to treading some questionable labyrinths underneath the school, some of which had equally questionable seals to powerful beings.

Yet the mission she was assigned had much more weight to it than the previous ones. As she opened the folio, her eyes stared wide-eyed at the picture of Kiria, captured at a crosswalk in Tokyo and keeping himself low with a hat on and a large black coat. There was no mistaking the silver hair and mismatching colored eyes.

She already knew what this involved.

"Fairy Tale?"

"…or the version they are trying to rebuild," Mikogami added, turning away from the window with his hands behind his back, then continued, "…this was taken just a few days ago. I've had associates of mine keep track of the remaining members. There's no guarantee that you'll find him, but we do have whereabouts of a warehouse on the Eastern edge of Tokyo Bay."

Ruby rummaged through the compiled information and more pictures. She wasn't sure who Mikogami's associates are, but they were good enough to keep an even lower profile than Fairy Tale; otherwise, they could be killed before a report could even be formed.

Skimming through the details of the report, Ruby raised an eyebrow at the circumstances surrounding the warehouse.

"Some shady warehouse operation? From the look of it, this is a human affair, not something we would be interested in."

"Maybe only on the surface," Mikogami countered, "…but Kiria was seen entering this warehouse."

"…and you want me to find more about what's going on?" Ruby guessed.

Mikogami chuckled, his amusement sending shivers down the witch's spine.

"Correct."

Ruby curled her lips and then stared at the photo of Kiria again. The man was extremely fast and cunning, so if she ever got into a fight with him, it would be difficult.

"If you determine there is a threat, to humanity or this school, you can proceed to eliminate it as necessary," he added.

Ruby raised her eyebrows. "Is that wise?"

The grin underneath his shadow grew bigger. "I have complete faith in your abilities. Have you not been training your connection with the Talking Book?"

Ruby widened her eyes. Of course, the headmaster would know about everything going on in this school, including the fact that she had been training by herself whenever she had the spare time. He would also know that it was completely necessary thanks to the increasingly difficult assignments he had been giving her.

Still, she wasn't going to reject the assignment. It's not like she could anyway since this was an order from her boss, but this matter was also personal to her. Kiria had been trying to eliminate her friends and herself by sending odd assassins. They had all failed so far, but even if it didn't affect his bottom line, she wanted to dish out some payback. If it hampered the operation of rebuilding Fairy Tale, then it was worth it.

"I'll leave right away," Ruby answered, her heart beating with excitement, something she hadn't felt in a while.

Mikogami nodded, "I only ask you to be as discrete as possible. Ultimately, we don't know what this warehouse is used for. It could be a drug operation or just some industrial front for what's left of Fairy Tale to meet."

Ruby nodded and when she thought of the fact she'll have an opportunity to visit Tsukune, she fidgeted.

"Um…will it be okay if I visit my friend afterward?"

The headmaster sighed knowing exactly which friend she was referring to.

"Do what you must as long as you do not attract attention. I expect you to be back here by tomorrow. You will need to sub in for a teacher in charge of students who are required to retake their exams."

Ruby brightened, seemingly lighting the whole dismal room. The headmaster was not amused. The lights in his own eyes dimmed in annoyance.

"Go."

Ruby jumped, her smile gone in an instant.

"Y-yes, right away sir!"

* * *

It was night time in Japan, but where Ruby stood, it was like day and night together. Tokyo city rose tall across the bay, shimmering with livelihood. The sounds of cars honking in the distance and sirens echoed to her position.

On the Eastern side of the bay, most of the industrial plants and factories remained with little light or noise, hidden from most of the people's sight and minds. If there was a place to perform shady business, it would definitely be across the bay area.

Despite that, many cross over the bay to work during the day. If Fairy Tale was involved, it would be weird that it would remain in secret for this long. There had to be some sort of cover.

Thinking about it, Ruby thought it was strange for Fairy Tale to position themselves so close to the bay. After all, just a year ago, Fairy Tale descended from the skies to this very bay where Alucard in his monstrous form resurrected. She wondered if that event was out of most people's minds by now. Granted, she didn't keep up with any of the local news.

Whatever the reason, it was the witch's job to figure out the purpose of such an operation and what Kiria was planning. He was the leader of the new Fairy Tale and the problem with such a guy was that he's unpredictable.

Ruby knew she had to be careful.

Looking down from bay line to the warehouse streets, she focused her attention back to the warehouse that matched the picture and description. What also gave it away was men standing guard with rifles in their hands.

A raven of hers flew from the warehouse and perched itself on her shoulder. It whispered into her ear, telling her of the surroundings. To her disappointment, there was no opening she could sneak in; however, her raven did see light beneath various guarded doors and gates. That told her that something was going on at this hour when most people would have left for home.

Now the real question is whether she was dealing with Youkai in disguise or actual humans. Just because the guards around the perimeter were human didn't mean she shouldn't interfere. If the reports were true, then there could very well be humans mixed among monsters. The question is what kind of operation is occurring within the warehouse.

Ruby could guess all day, but ultimately, she needed to go inside to figure it out.

"Looks like we have to do this the hard way," Ruby sighed, waving her hand around her raven. In response, the raven dispersed into feathers, its main body reverting back to a strip of embellished talisman. Two fingers grasped it as it floated beside her head and she swiped it back into her right pouch filled with more talismans. The pouch to her left contained her Talking Book and it glowed purple in anticipation.

Wings grew out from her back at that moment, drawing wind around her as she flexed them. Under the moonlight, one would see that her wings weren't simply comprised of black feathers. If stretched apart, it would look like blades instead. If necessary, Ruby would use her wings to defend or attack. Hopefully, she would only need it to fly.

Silently, she flapped her wings and glided to the metal rooftop of the guarded warehouse. Her feet lightly touched the top, preventing a large rumble as she slowly applied her own weight. She looked around to make sure she didn't cause any attention.

With only the noise of crickets and the waves of the bay water, she moved to the edge of the warehouse that had the least guards. Below her, there were two guards sitting under a lamp, looking out into the darkness of other warehouses and streets. They seemed pretty aware of their surroundings; however, it didn't occur to them that a person could sneak on the rooftop other than birds.

Dropping down when the other guard looked away from his colleague, Ruby slipped behind the guard silently and he widened his eyes as her wings covered his vision. He was pulled away and before he could scream, a strong pulse to his brain lulled him to sleep. Ruby had channeled her Youki magic with her hands touching the back of the man's head. She pulled him away from the lamp, hiding herself and the guard into the darkness of the night.

The other guard glanced to his left a few seconds later and saw that his partner had suddenly vanished.

"Toshiro?"

With his gun raised, he looked around to see where his friend had gone. Slowly stepping out of the lamp, Ruby waited, her black feathers keeping her further hidden from human sight. She drew one talisman, whispered some words that caused the talisman to glow, and then swiped it at the guard.

Through magic, the talisman was guided towards the guard with the speed of a bullet. It attached to his front and he noticed it too late as it glowed, lulling him to sleep. He wobbled on his feet in response.

Ruby quickly moved to catch him, pulling him further out of his lighted circle. She took the gun out of his hands and he could do nothing as he lost consciousness.

She pulled both men into a nearby corner of the warehouse to avoid as much suspicion. If the guards didn't notice any sounds on her side, they should remain posted. She would be long gone before anyone knew that some guards were subdued.

"Thank you," she chirped, taking off the cap of one of the guards and putting it on herself. She dispersed her wings as she proceeded to remove the guard's jacket and pants.

Ruby changed over her corset and skirt, not wanting to undress at night. She patted herself down and stretched a little, getting used to the feel of the guard's jacket. Then, she took one of the guns to help look the part. Although she despised the feeling of such a weapon, one that had been known to kill her people, she wouldn't let it get to her in this situation.

Before leaving to enter the warehouse, she touched both men on the head, channeling her energy to see if the guards were really good Youkai who could keep their true forms and aura hidden, or simply human.

It was the latter. Still, that didn't mean there was nothing Youkai or Fairy Tale related. These humans may even be unaware that they are part of something dangerous.

Disguised as a guard, she walked briskly towards the warehouse door which was locked through a keypad. From the report, she was given a code to enter which was observed by Mikogami's "associates". Hopefully, the code hadn't been changed since then.

Entering the code, the door buzzed in denial. Furrowing her eyebrows, she tried again, but it was denied again.

She frowned, hung her head, and sighed as she placed her hands on her hips.

She didn't want to attract any attention, but it was becoming harder to do so. Of course, any building that had a secret would have its codes changed regularly.

So how to bypass the keypad without triggering the alarm? She could try asking her fellow guard but she didn't want to risk exposing herself. She wasn't particularly confident in trying to be friendly with people she didn't know.

"Well, there's still a bit of an opening…" she noted, looking down where there was light slipping out beneath the door.

Crouching, she slid in a talisman beneath the door and before letting her fingers let go, she channeled her magic again to activate the talisman. It transformed into another raven which croaked lowly as it came alive.

Mentally sending the raven instruction, it croaked in confirmation and fluttered up to the door handle behind. Seeing through the eyes of the bird, she notes that it was just a single handle which made her relax.

Using its weight, Ruby had the raven press the handle down which resulted in the door creeping out as Ruby tugged on the door on her end.

Once open, the raven perched itself on her shoulder but she didn't dismiss it yet. Looking around and securing the rifle in her arms, she stepped inside and slowly shut the door.

Inside, there were rows of movable shelves and a warm smell that permeated the air. Above, rows of single bulb lights spread around in various states. There were plenty of dark spots, flickering spots, and lowly lit spots. What was common throughout was the low hum of electricity passing through each bulb.

' _Now how am I going to navigate this?_ ' she thought.

The answer was obvious as she looked to her crow who croaked as quietly as possible. Ruby smiled in response and then relayed more instructions.

"Do a sweep inside. I'll be looking through your eyes."

The raven nodded and flew up higher. Meanwhile, Ruby scanned her surroundings and stepped in further into the building, looking for anything unusual.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?"

Ruby flinched as she heard a male voice come from the side. There, she sees a young man who wasn't as built as the men outside coming out from a dark spot. It seemed he was close to Tsukune's age, one that graduated recently. Although he was originally suspicious, once he notes that Ruby is their uniform, he lowers the gun in his arms.

"I didn't know we had any females in our security group," the boy stated, raising his eyes.

Ruby glances away, her mouth crooked as she tried to come up with an excuse.

"I uh…I'm just filling in for someone right now."

The boy blinked a few times and then gave a light smile. "Oh, well welcome then! It's an easy job here and I'm not exactly sure what goes on here, but we haven't had any issues for the past week."

"Oh?" Ruby cocked her head, equally smiling and relieved that her excused was bought without question, "Who hired your group?"

The boy shrugged, walking closer to the witch. "If I recall, it's some corporation called ABA though I haven't bother looking up what that means. Around these shelves and the crates, I think they said they perform a lot of work around supplying hydrogen fuel cells."

"Oh, I see…"

As Ruby listened in, she searched out the boy before her to see if there was anything particular. Like the men outside, he was human too and seemed to be unaware of anything unusual.

Searching through her raven though, there didn't seem anything out of the ordinary. There was some machinery around, lots of crates, and shelves filled with fuel cell prototypes.

It couldn't have been just that if Kiria was seen entering this building. Ruby searched harder, channel her magic through the bird to see beyond the appearance. She looked for any traces of Youki or magic. If Kiria came recently, then there should have been even a little bit.

' _There!_ '

Near one particular shelf, she felt a bit of Youki that had remained and having her bird dive closer, she could see some kind of square metal plate that seemed to lead somewhere underground.

' _…Now that makes sense,_ ' Ruby thought, finally getting somewhere.

"Hey…um…are you okay?"

Ruby blinked and gasped a little, jumping when she realized she had been staring too focused ahead when looking through her raven. She gives an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I blanked out there. I'm a little tired, see?"

The boy laughed and patted her shoulder. "It's no problem. Take it easy! Seriously, you should consider joining this post sometime. It gets a little lonely here to be honest. They only need one guard inside and that happens to be me, I guess."

The aerial view from her raven also validated his claim that there was nobody else. She was actually relieved by that since it would mean she didn't have to worry about anyone else.

"By the way, mind telling me your name?" He asked, suddenly smiling.

Ruby was taken aback but she had no reason for keeping her name a secret. They wouldn't see each other again after all.

"Ruby. Yours?"

"Hiro," he answered.

Ruby closed her eyes. "Well, Hiro. You should resume your usual walk. I won't get in your way."

Hiro chuckled at her formal tone. "Oh come on, it's just us! Besides, I highly doubt that anyone would be interested and attempt to break into a dinky warehouse at this hour."

' _Yeah, me._ ' Ruby thought as she stared blankly at him, keeping her lips sealed. She couldn't keep talking to this boy, despite however happy he is to see someone to talk with. It would be only a matter of time before the other guards would find out their colleagues she took out were missing.

"Hey, could you turn around for me? I think I see something on your back?" Ruby asked, deciding she'll just put him to sleep like the rest.

Hiro grew worried and immediately turned his back towards her, trying to look over his shoulder. "Huh? Where?"

Ruby mentally shook her head. This boy was too lax.

She placed a talisman on his back and spoke some simple words that remained incoherent to everyone but her. Before the boy could wonder what the witch had put on him and was speaking, he felt extremely sleepy.

"R-ruby? What are you…oh…"

Before the boy could drop, Ruby supported him and eased him against the wall near the entrance door. She smiled apologetically at his now sleeping face.

"Sorry, Hiro. You seem like a nice guy but I don't think this is the place for you."

Now that the coast was clear, Ruby immediately took off the security uniform and dropped the gun down. She had no reason to remain in disguise, especially after checking what is down underground. If there are any guards that came in above, she was confident she'd be seen as a harmless bird by then.

Remembering the location of the underground entrance, she slipped between the vast shelves, disappearing in and out of various unlit spots. When she finally arrived at the designated shelf, she summoned her raven wings and used their strength to scoot the shelf away.

The metal plated door stared at her and Ruby moved to open it with her hands. It was easy enough sliding the plate out of the way and she only saw a ladder and a darkness below.

Curling her lips, she decided not to think of it too much and transformed into a raven, dropping into the depths below. Meanwhile, the unconscious Hiro's face started to grow red and his expression tightened in pain.

* * *

When Ruby reached the bottom, she found a small concrete square room with a simple light and a wooden table. It's not at all what she expected for something to be underground.

"Their meeting room, perhaps?"

Maybe the real danger is above in the warehouse within the various crates, but it would be a lot of work to try search all of them.

As she tried thinking of the possibilities, she failed to notice a cell phone on the table which suddenly rang. She jumped and her head turned to the phone which vibrated.

' _Oh…shit…_ '

It was a trap. For a lone cellphone to be waiting and suddenly ring when she arrived could only imply that; however, she couldn't ignore it.

Taking a deep breath, she moved to grab it. She didn't have a cell phone herself and didn't think she would have to bother with it, but she had seen plenty of people use it.

"Um…I think it's this button I have to press," she reaffirmed to herself.

Pressing the cell phone icon on the keypad, it stopped ringing and she placed it to her ear, frowning.

"Who…is this?" she asked after some silence.

"I think you know that pretty well, Ruby."

Ruby widened her eyes, yet at the same time, she couldn't be too surprised. It was Kiria.

"Damn it," Ruby cursed, "…you've been causing nothing but trouble, haven't you?"

On the other line, Kiria chuckled. She couldn't make out where she was, but if he knew that she had entered the warehouse, he had to be close.

"That's my nature, witch. You and your friends should know that by now. I'm not one to laze around and accept defeat, after all. No, that would be quite boring, you think?"

"…and so what are you planning with your version of Fairy Tale?" Ruby asked, keeping her voice cool. At this moment, growing worried would do nothing.

Kiria hummed. "Well, since you gladly fell into my trap and initiated my experiment, I think I could tell you what you'll be up against."

Ruby's eyes remained open and she stopped herself from clenching her teeth.

"What did you do?"

"It's more of what you did, Ruby. I've been watching with cameras we've placed in the building and I'm glad you met one of the security guards we hired for this place. I believe his name is Hiro, right? Isn't he a nice guy? He wants to join Tokyo university after he saved up some money, though…not sure if it matters anymore."

Ruby breathed in and held it. "No, you didn't…"

"Since a week ago, we requested that we only needed a single guard inside and that it would be the same guard. Over time, we ensured that he would be exposed to a special chemical in the air that we've been working on. The hydrogen, of course, is just a front.

"The chemical has already permeated his body. Basically, he's poisoned but to finalize it all, he needs something to initiate the chemical process using Youki. Luckily, that has been provided ever since you channeled your magic into him. Thanks to you…"

A pained howl echoed through the chamber and Ruby's hands shook, not wanting to believe that this whole time, she was tricked into something that could have been prevented if she had been more careful.

"…you'll be the first to witness what we've been working on this whole time. Honestly, Fairy Tale's original goal of wiping out humanity was boring. It's more fun to see what you can do with all the resources you have on your hand, right? So, I think _we'll try changing humanity instead._ "

Ruby shook, unable to control the emotions and upset she was feeling.

"Chaos…that's all you want."

Kiria chuckled and mocked her. "Just what gave you that idea? Time is ticking, Ruby. We'll require many more iterations before we can release this to the world!"

The witch didn't waste any more time listening as she let the phone drop and break on the ground. She transformed into a raven and flew up the shaft, her mind racing over how she could stop the transformation.

Indeed, she felt an unusual amount of Youki being created and exuding through Hiro who awakened and was groaning in pain.

This kind of permeation of Youki should have been impossible through chemical alone. What sort of alchemy could have done this?

She didn't know and she didn't have much time to research it either.

' _I need to restrict him first!_ ' she thought. If there was any chance to save this boy, she had to capture him! There may be even a chance that the headmaster could save him if she couldn't figure out what is going on with him.

"Hey, what's that noise! Hiro, are you alright?"

From the opposite side of where Hiro was, Ruby could hear the guards she left alone entering the building. Even they could hear the unnatural growling that was coming within.

"Damn it," she muttered, moving fast.

Reaching the boy whose body was steaming and completely red, Ruby tried to touch him, but she lept back when she found his body was burning hot.

Any normal human should have been dead already, but Hiro was still groaning and howling in pain. She could sense changes inside of him, but couldn't figure how or why he was changing. If he truly was exposed to a chemical in the air, then it's certainly not the same as a Youki blood transfusion.

She flinched when his head lifted on its own. There were no pupils in his eyes and his teeth had become like a shark. For a moment, Ruby saw a little of Tsukune's internal struggle with his ghoul form. It could be similar to that.

"Hiro, are you still in there? Do not panic! I'll get you out of here, just-"

Hiro let out a horrific scream and the heat of his body expelled further out, causing Ruby to jump back and cover her eyes from the intensity. Waves of heat fluttered around him, bending the air a little.

' _I don't have time!_ '

Ruby took out four talismans and threw them. They managed to survive within the heat as Ruby applied some more protection to them. Right now, she needed a stable barrier to contain him and couldn't have it burning in flames.

All four talismans surrounded him in a square and then glowed brightly, connecting each other as Ruby began whispering instructions.

Hiro howled again, his body essentially becoming beet red like some sort of demon. The barrier was up and contained him in a yellow, translucent box. Ruby could feel the air around her cool a little as her barrier trapped the heat within. The only problem was Hiro was getting hotter and the Youki he is exuding would inevitably break her barrier. What she gained was time to think.

' _Where is all this Youki coming from? I only used a little bit to try to lure him to sleep. How could he be drawing more?_ '

She tried to perform some analysis, pulling up her book quickly which flipped to the correct page on its own. Although she could sense Youki on her own, it was not apparent with Hiro as he heated up. Just as she found a spell to trace energy, three guards posted out arrived at her location.

"What the hell?!" One of the guards screamed.

Indeed, seeing a girl with bladed wings and a growing red monster inside a barrier would make one freak out. They all stared frozen with their guns aimed forward, unsure whether to shoot or run away. The witch would make that very clear.

"Leave…Now!" Ruby shouted. Three individual blades of her wings extended at each of the rifles the guards were holding, slapping them away. If the sight made them shocked, the threat of Ruby's wings made their eyes go wide. Each of them stumbled as they turned to flee.

Ruby couldn't breathe easy as she focused all her efforts on saving Hiro. She hoped she didn't waste time scaring the guards away. If she failed, it would be even worse to have others die in the process.

Activating her spell, she channeled herself to the four talismans that surrounded Hiro. She could see that he was growing bigger. Saliva dripped from his mouth and he was growling like some animal. Yet, she could feel some sort of resistance from the boy. If she didn't hurry though, she had no doubt he would be going on a rampage. She resolved herself to do anything necessary if that happened.

' _Let's try to remain positive, Ruby_ ' she thought to herself, but upon seeing the internal flow of the burning monster before her, she widened her eyes in horror.

"N-no…it's a complete transformation!"

There was no external energy as she thought was driving his transformation. Everyone, even humans, had an internal energy. Some small and some big, but that's what is called Ki. Youki, on the other hand, is demonic energy or negative energy.

In the case of Hokuto and Tsukune, who both received blood transfusions from Kiria and Moka respectively, one cannot say they underwent a complete transformation. Their Ki becomes tainted and unstable as a result, but depending on the Youki, it's possible to heal over time and return human. Tsukune was a special case in that he never let his body heal and kept damaging it. Fortunately, he was able to overcome his instability and become a Youki-user permanently.

In Hiro's case, he had abundant Ki potential and it may very well be similar to Tsukune's original potential. In other words, Hiro probably lived a very positive and fulfilling life so far for his Ki to be so pure and abundant within his body. He was probably healthier than the most average human beings and that's probably why Kiria had chosen him to "guard" the warehouse.

' _Kiria…you monster!_ ' Ruby thought, her eyes narrowing. The effects of the chemical upon activation were apparent and Ruby couldn't believe it: Hiro's body was transforming his internal Ki into Youki, specifically one of fire, and at such a rapid pace too! She wouldn't doubt if Kuyo had a hand in this.

The need to stop the process was more apparent than ever. She wasn't sure if she could revert it since it's unlike anything she has seen, but the first step was getting him out of the warehouse. Perhaps this is where she would need the expertise of Mikogami.

Unfortunately, before she could send a talisman to teleport the growing beast outside, the entire cube of her barrier started to turn red. Cracks began to form on the talismans and heated up with smoke.

"No, don't break yet!"

The rate of his internal ki being transformed was simply too fast. His entire body had acclimated to the chemical in the air within his time as a guard which probably helped too. Ruby began to feel the heat reaching her body again and in reaction, she planted a talisman on the ground and raised her wings in front of her to protect herself from the inevitable explosion.

In a flurry of flames, the barrier and talismans burned away and all the pent-up energy from the resultant transformation spread everywhere within the warehouse, eating up the many shelves and hydrogen crates.

Outside, the entire warehouse then exploded with the hydrogen powder adding fuel to its range. It sent a shockwave of sound that traveled even to the city across the bay. The fire spread to other warehouses in its vicinity and various steel bars screeched in agony into the night sky.

There would be no doubt people coming to access the damage and mitigate any fire, but for now, there was even a bigger problem as "Hiro" rose from his confinement and roared into the sky, adding to the flames that rose around the district.

Ruby rose from a crouched position, her skin slightly seared as she barely managed to place a proper barrier in time. Fortunately, her wings were a form of magical protection as well and helped support her. She stared at the monster that was Hiro, now a gigantic red beast two or three feet taller than before, bearing his claws and teeth towards her.

The beast roared, showing little resemblance of the human male but Ruby couldn't dwindle on the fact that she couldn't do much in his transformation. If she had noticed something strange beforehand, perhaps all of this could have been prevented.

' _This is bad…_ '

That was a serious understatement, but the witch couldn't help think it as she watched the flames around her and pieces of various metal melting and falling. She can usually deal with pain, but burns and being roasted alive is not on her agenda.

The human-turned-beast roared and without delay started rushing towards her. The witch, in turn, pulled up her heated wings and flew into the air to gain some distance; however, the red beast wouldn't give her that chance.

"Hiro" jumped, his strength increased manifold and could leap farther than what his new body weight might imply. Before the witch could fly out of reach, it caught her leg.

Ruby yelped and was promptly slammed into the ground. She let out a pained grunt as she smashed into the cement concrete, then was thrown into a nearby fire.

With a tightened face, Ruby ignored the bounce back and her headache. She forced her wings to stop the momentum before she could be doused in fire.

Her wings spread and slammed into the concrete behind her, screeching against it as she slowed herself down. When she came to a halt with embers flying past her braided hair, she straightened herself with wobbly movements.

She stretched herself for a moment, cracking some bones especially in her back in place and around her shoulders. The beast didn't wait for the witch to recover and was now running towards her with large thud-inducing movements. She already had a plan in mind: Don't get caught again.

Yet at the same time, she shivered a little in pleasure over the brutality of the red beast. She knew this was the worst time to let her masochistic side show, but she couldn't help it.

She smiles.

' _Not bad, Hiro…_ ' she thinks before growing serious, ' _…but I'm not letting you do that again._ '

She flung three talismans towards the beast that all turned to crows. They croaked like warriors towards the beast who roared back.

The beast's movements towards the witch were slowed as he tried swatting away some of the birds but as soon as they got close, they exploded on contact, doing little damage but enough to blind him and fully stop his movements.

He grunted, trying to wipe away the resultant smoke caused by the exploded birds. In the middle of his pause though, Ruby made her move, swiftly pushing herself towards the beast with her wings.

She lifted herself into the air and just above the beast, she pointed the wings at him, extending her bladed feathers.

Crunching sounds echoed in consecutive fashion as Ruby pierced the beast's flesh, intentionally avoiding vital points. That said, even if she tried to kill him, that may prove to be difficult as his skin was now harder. The feathers didn't reach that far into his body.

The beast howled and Ruby knew that she had to push harder. She channeled more magical energy into her wings and solidified them further. Shouting, the blades were pushed in deeper and the beast roared in pain, flailing.

Not letting herself be flung off, she swiped more talismans, imbuing a spell to help restrain his movements. It may not help for long, but she just needed enough time to visualize how to essentially "shut him off" without killing him.

The talismans attached to his arms and legs, glowing. It was enough for the beast's howling to turn into small grunts as he fell to the floor allowing Ruby to further pierce through him.

Not wasting time, the witch pulled herself onto the massive body of the red beast and didn't let her wings escape off him. She placed a hand on his chest and winced as the heat of his body burned her hand.

Still, she ignored the pain as she does best and channeled her energy further into the beast through her wings. She could feel out how his corrupted Ki was traversing through his body. For the beast to change, it would mean that the flow would have to drastically change from when he was human. She would have to disrupt the flow in hopes of knocking the beast out and potentially reverting Hiro back.

During the training with Touhou Fuhai for preparation against Fairy Tale, he told her a lot of information on how Youki is channeled and how to properly manipulate it. She could only trust one of the dark lord's teachings in this case as she followed through to find where the energy is gathered.

There is the initiation of Ki, the storage of Ki, and the expel of Ki.

Initiation of Ki or entrance is the activation period so for Ruby, it is wired as a spell but for most others, it's simply gathering…perhaps even a simple act of breathing in.

Storing is where the Ki is held for a moment during the gathering process.

Finally, the expel period or exit is where a spell is cast or some attack is performed.

Ruby followed where the beast was storing its energy. If she could prevent storage, then none of the build-up required to continue transformation or heat up would occur. That would hopefully force the beast's rampage to stop. If she had tried to obstruct anything else, it could harm Hiro's development though, he may already be damaged at this point.

The hottest area in his body was around his stomach and Ruby let out a relieved smile as she made progress, but before she could slap on a talisman on that area, the talismans around each of his limps weakened upon the continuous heat and his struggles.

"Hiro" roared once more and before the witch could realize it, she was smacked across with his massive arm. She shook, her mind blanking for a few seconds as she finds herself pushed off the giant. Her wings slipped out of the beast's flesh and she was thrown several meters into the warehouse that hadn't fallen yet but had its walls torn from the prior blast.

Smoke and dust filled the warehouse as the witch crashed into various boxes and torn metal. Using her wings, she protects herself a little and she has a natural pain threshold to endure some of the debris, but it still hurts like hell.

Ruby groaned as she saw the beast roar into the sky from her position on top of broken crates. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, then grunted as she forced herself back onto her feet. She channeled her magic to heal herself a little and then frowned at the turned-Youkai.

' _I need to end this quickly. I might as well use that._ '

Taking a deep breath, she focused her Youki through her Talking Book which began shaking like crazy. It flipped through multiple pages as she closed her eyes and called forth her talismans.

All the talismans she had on her flew out of her pouch and circled around her. The beast sensed that the witch was not at all dead and slowly thumped towards her. The talismans and his punctured wounds still affected his movement but not for long as his body started healing at a rapid pace, emitting hot steam as he walked forward with a snarl on his face.

Ruby paid no attention as she whispered critical forbidden words that were basically magical instructions to her talismans. The pieces of paper connected together into a strange white cloth unlike any element in the world. With pure magical properties as it absorbed energy from its surroundings, they eventually begin to wrap around the witch.

As they did and wrapped more, Ruby's wings began to turn white. The wrappings around her arms and legs warped and grew tighter, turning into metal plates of armor that acted like gauntlets.

The wraps stretched her in every possible way, both restricting and empowering her, filling with a boost of magical energy and power. Her body shook and she felt her mouth go dry upon the painful tightening around her, yet she could not help but take pleasure in the sensation, even in this burning situation.

When all is said and done, Ruby opened her eyes. The scarlet-orange colors in her eyes shine with just as much ferocity as the fires that surrounded her. The red beast reflected in her eyes.

"This is going to hurt me a lot more than it's going to hurt you," she muttered.

This statement was not an exaggeration as she used her most powerful enhancement spell: Iron Maiden.

The beast roared, instinctively stepping back as it felt the sudden boost in Youki around Ruby. The witch didn't want to waste time or movement now. Literally, every action she did would increasingly become more and more painful to perform, so she needed to finish up fast.

With a tap from her foot, she shot towards the beast with heart-pounding speed. The beast could see it, yet it had no time to react. It attempted to swipe, but it only passed through its own heated air.

The witch's eyes were wide and dangerous as she stood before it within its shadow. In a split second, her gauntlet claws extended and grabbed its head.

"Hiro" had no chance to roar or try to remove Ruby's crushing metal arms. It lost balance as the witch pushed forward with a cry, slamming its massive body and head down into the concrete below.

The ground shook and the concrete cracked, embedding the beast's form into the ground and sending dust and ash into the air. Some of the fire around wavered upon the crushing force.

It was impactful enough to cause enough internal damage to the beast which would surely disable him for a while. Hearing a weak groan emit from the beast, Ruby let go and closed her eyes in preparation for the consequence of her action.

Here it comes...

An awful twisting noise erupted from her shoulders and arms which she used to take down the beast. She couldn't help but scream in agony as some of her flesh tore away from her body, sending streams of blood down her wrapped arm and gauntlets. She couldn't look at what her arm would look like without the armor.

The rest of her body took less damage, only making her wince as the wraps tighten further around her. After her fight with Raika, she learned to control herself and minimize the amount of penalty she received, yet Iron Maiden still took a toll on the user if one wanted to perform a worthwhile feat.

Dropping to her knees, she deactivated the forbidden armor. The wrappings around her soon flooded off of her as they transformed into ravens that surrounded her and "Hiro".

Taking a look at the beast beneath her who was shaken and in a lot of pain from the witch's crushing magical energy, Ruby sighed. She swiped out a lone talisman and leaning forward and ignoring the pain of her mangled arm, she placed it on the beast's stomach and began whispering.

Although the fires continued around her, the fires within Hiro started to dampen as Ruby locked the internal storage of his body. With no way to continue retaining his transformation, his body calmed down and regressed to its previous skinny state.

Steam dissipated from his body and the boy fell into a deep slumber while descending further into his own monstrous cavity in the ground.

Ruby checked his state to ensure that he would be stable. For good measure, she slapped on another talisman before drawing back and staring at the smoke-filled sky.

"I won't let this pass, Kiria," she spoke, knowing nobody would hear her except the ravens that surrounded her and the boy. For now, she couldn't think about him any longer and she had bigger things to worry about: herself.

She closed her eyes for a moment as the loss of blood from her arms made her dizzy. With her vision getting blurry, she blinked slowly a few times.

In one second after reopening her eyes and swaying, she sees a white-cloaked man with diamond eyes.

She smiles weakly.

"M-mission…accomplished, but…"

A small smile shined within his hood as he stepped forward, but Ruby couldn't tell if he was real or was simply hallucinating with her blood loss and the heat around her.

She felt a hand on her head. Any of her concerns and failures were quietly eliminated.

"You performed well, Ruby. Now, _sleep_. I will take care of the rest here."

The witch nodded, no longer caring anymore whether the headmaster was actually there or not. In her state anyway, she wasn't sure if she could lift herself up anyways and fly to safety. So, she slumped, falling unconscious.

* * *

"Um…wouldn't you guys rather be with your parents instead?"

"What? Tsukune, why would I ever leave my destined-one alone?"

"Remove your hand from Tsukune, succubus. He's a full fledge Shino, someone that you cannot hope to compare to!"

"You think I don't know? Why don't you kick me to see how much I care!"

"Oh? Is that a challenge?"

"Um…never mind."

"Can't we just watch a movie peacefully?"

"Tch…everything on these human channels lacks taste."

Mizore, Kurumu, and a newly blended Moka crowded around Tsukune as he flipped through various channels, embarrassed by the attention but having gotten used to the usual antics of his friends.

Tsukune's mother, Kasumi was in the kitchen, watching her son try to relax in the midst of beautiful schoolmates she still couldn't believe existed. They had visited their home regularly and Kasumi always invited them in as she enjoys the extra company.

She particularly likes Mizore who has helped her with the dishes and chores. She claimed it was in preparation to become her son's wife.

At this point, she wasn't sure if the woman was joking or not, but she found the thought of a daughter-in-law like her to be delightful. To be honest, any of the girls would make a nice daughter-in-law.

As Kasumi daydreams for a little bit about her son's future. A sudden silence from the girls and Tsukune brings her back to reality. On the television, everyone was suddenly paying attention to a news alert on a channel that was flipped to.

"We are here near Tokyo Bay and the industrial district where a few hours ago, a loud explosion occurred around various warehouses. It's estimated that millions of dollars in damages have occurred thanks to the resultant fire. According to a person who was guarding the warehouse before it exploded, this is what he had to say:"

"It was crazy! I and my colleagues thought we were going to die! For some reason, my…memory is a little fuzzy to be honest, but…I think some raven might have got in and accidentally ignited something. We have a lot of hydrogen in there from what I recall, so I wouldn't say it's impossible, but certainly bad luck. I'm just amazed that we got out alive!"

The news returned back to the reporter. "…along with him, there were three others. Some claimed there was another inside the building but there are no records from the security group that anyone was inside. Strangely enough, though, there is an unusual amount of ravens that are flying overhead this district as I speak. In one area, a crater was discovered after firefighters worked hard to put out the flames. There were birds everywhere, circling that crater. It's unknown why none of the birds fled during the fire, but it's safe to say that something may have occurred by one or more of these birds."

The news returned to the main studio as the anchor cleared his throat. "That is very strange indeed. We'll keep an eye on this story for more updates. For those that perform work in that area, please call your company to see if you are affected as you may be prevented from working during this time-"

Tsukune turned off the television and stared at it, his eyebrows furrowed. The others around him had an equally serious expression on their face.

"Ruby…" Mizore whispered, her voice cool but worry filled her eyes.

It's safe to say that everyone that night would leave immediately to visit the witch. The Newspaper Club would no doubt have long days ahead of them. In a world filled with Youkai, there's hardly a Summer Break for those who are aware of its dangers.

* * *

A\N: This was originally a half-written intro I scrapped and then decided to make something out of it. Although I'm sure it could turn into a full chapter-based story, I'm not sure if it's worth pursuing.


	2. Sneaking Figure in the Woods

A\N: This will be the first official chapter. Assume nothing from the one-shot chapter, especially as this chapter starts after the end of the manga. Enjoy!

* * *

Lights filled the night sky with hues of purple, blue, and yellow, flickering and brightening the already lit skyline of Tokyo City.

The sounds of cheers and laughter echoed in the city where an amusement park was hosted. Fun music played loudly to everyone's ears and screams of people rang as roller coasters rumbled.

Laughter particularly rang among three people - two loving parents and their seven-year-old daughter. The girl squealed as she was lifted a little off the ground and swung as both parents to the side holding her arm.

Maeimi and Eito Toujo, the respective mother and father of their daughter, Ruby Toujo. Together, they were a family with a history of witchcraft that was secretly being practiced. Today though, they were just about any other family making memories together.

The young witch is nearly the spitting image of Maeimi except she lacks the green eyes of her mother and her short hair, preferring to keep it braided and long.

"Ruby," Maemi Toujo chuckled, "...was the roller coaster really that exciting? You can learn to ride a broom just as fast!"

Plopping her feet back to the ground, Ruby shakes her head, her eyes brightening as they head towards the exit.

"No way!" Ruby huffed, pulling in her hands, "...the way it drops up and down, then loops around. I could never do that!"

Eito Toujo hummed, patting his daughter's head. "In will in time if you continue Lady Oyakata's lessons."

Ruby's excited mood was suddenly being tampered with by her father's expectations. She frowned as she stared into her father's orange-scarlet eyes. Seemingly, that is the only thing she inherited; however, it's the most catching of the features, almost glowing in the dark. Other than that, Eito sported a rugged look with a slight stubby beard. His expression was one of patience, yet caution on his square head.

"Foo! Why can't you guys teach me? That lady is always trying to teach me weird stuff! Also, it itches around her garden!"

Eito cleared his throat, a little happy that their daughter wanted them to teach her and they probably would have, yet he can't dismiss the opportunity provided. He respected the three-hundred-year-old witch.

"Ruby, we've been over this. Lady Oyakata chose to teach you after seeing your potential. Given how long she's been around, it should be an honor!"

Maeimi sighed, shaking her head at her husband who could only go on how fortunate their daughter is.

"Dear, let's not be so firm here. Right now, the last thing we need to think of magic and witchcraft."

Eito hummed and then let go of his daughter's hand to rub her head instead. She grunted in displeasure but otherwise, there was an unmistakable smile on her face as she warmed up to her father's apology.

"That's true. I'm sorry Ruby. How about we go on the Ferris wheel?"

Ruby's growing smile turned into an immediate frown as she looked to the large wheel of slow-moving carts just within her vision. It seemed that they were heading in that direction anyway.

"That looks a little boring though," she says, skepticism all over her face.

Maeimi chuckled. "Oh come now! Not everything needs to be fast. Sometimes, it's better to relax from time to time, right?"

Ruby looked down at her feet and finally shrugged. "I guess..."

Hearing the obvious disappointment in her body language and voice, both parents looked at each other for a moment and sighed with a resigned smile. They brought their daughter to the park for fun and for her enjoyment, but it was apparent that she loved the more exhilarating rides. This did not bode well for either of them who already lost their lunch behind their daughter's back.

"Okay, we'll head for the roller coaster ride..." Maeimi began, then saw a stream of silent tears from her husband as he shivered. She sighed again.

"Dear, please don't cry. We both have nothing to lose anymore."

Ruby was oblivious to the pain of their parents who were sacrificing a lot to make the day special for their daughter. She raised her hands up in delight.

"Yay!"

As the family turned and made their way to the roller coaster ride, Ruby hummed happily during the walk back while her parents were chatting to themselves, particularly with Maeimi reassuring her husband over the coming ride.

Her parents' grip on her hand fell through as Ruby suddenly stopped, hearing a croak enter her ears. Her parents didn't quite notice the loss of their daughter yet.

Time seemed to slow in the young witch's eyes as she saw a black bird perched on top of a fence that separated the parking lot outside and the park area.

A raven.

Ruby wasn't sure what came over her, but it felt like the bird was calling to her. Its black feathers shined under the light of the amusement park. Within its black eyes, Ruby could see a small reflection of herself.

Then a bright white light started to fade in from behind the bird and spilling in the gaps of the fence.

The raven flew away without another sound but the bright light was getting bigger, nearly surrounding her view with a growing roar behind the fence. She couldn't leave like the raven as she felt frozen.

Was it the raven...or the possibility of death? Perhaps it was both with the raven being the ominous sign of it all.

If she had begun to move like the raven did though, then maybe...

"Ruby!"

Someone called out to her.

Someone pushed her away.

For the young witch, everything changed at that moment. She was no longer in front of the bright light. The next thing she knew before her vision blacked out was the sounds of the fence breaking and then a sickening thud.

* * *

Ruby gasped, her upper body pulling upwards as she rose from her bed. She carried sweat all over her body and her heart beat with ferocity.

Within her dorm room situated alongside the rest of the female students' rooms at Youkai Academy, the twenty-one-year-old witch tried hard to regain herself, looking around and recognizing that she only had a bad dream.

Still...

' _No...why now?!_ '

For the witch, she had thought memories of her parent's death were over. It's been fourteen years since a drunk driver crashed into the same amusement park and killed her parents.

Since then, Ruby had undergone many trials and changes. Her teacher, Lady Oyakata took her in and guided her with the idea that all humans should pay in order to exact revenge for her parents.

That was true until she met Tsukune and his friends two years ago. For someone who only had Oyakata left as a person that she could relate to as a witch, they were able to make her see that she was helping her master unleash something even worse than a mere drunk driver upon humans.

There is evil and misguidance everywhere, but it is not blanket to cover across all of humanity. There are good people and Tsukune is proof of that along with various other individuals. The same goes for Youkai who can display good and the worst of intentions.

At a young age though, she couldn't help but feel vengeful. Yet, her dream was a reminder that it wasn't only a drunk driver's fault. If she hadn't been so eager to move fast and learn to relax, perhaps things would've been different. She could've at least gained more time to enjoy the presence of her family.

Perhaps, their deaths were inevitable though. If she could go back in time, she wasn't sure if she could prevent it. The very first time she saw a raven, one that symbolized death and misfortune, it may have sealed her parents' fate and hers as well.

So, why pick a raven as her familiar and learn for so long how to embody it through magic? If she thought about it now, she would have certainly tried to avoid it, but back then at a young age, she had an urge to control it.

Perhaps, it was because she thought then the raven was actually trying to warn her. If she had heed that warning, she might have saved her family.

There was a bigger reason though that she couldn't admit to herself back then. She admired the raven because it's a beautiful, yet haunting creature.

' _It's not like thinking about it would really matter at this point_ ,' Ruby sighed, knowing that it wasn't worth trying to adapt to a different familiar after years of training and utilizing her birds.

Ravens are part of who she is, any symbolism attached is not.

Reaffirming herself on that note, she slid out of her bed and moved to the bathroom to wash up. Splashing cold water on her face helped to calm her down and restart her mind. She would have gone back to bed but with only a couple hours to spare before the academy would start, there wasn't any worth in going back to sleep.

Picking up her Talking Book that was settled on a coffee table near her bed, she whispered an incantation that caused the book to glow purple.

The sweat and heat from her body dissipated as if she had already taken a shower. She let out a relieved sigh as she felt clean and refreshed in only a few seconds. She performed the same magic on her bed to remove the sweat.

Magic is extremely useful in cleaning. Some witches find it a demeaning use of abilities; however, Ruby found no shame in using it to make herself more efficient.

They say there are witches blending in human society and the most popular job taken is for maids and housecleaning. As long as the employer is away, they could clean without worry and rack in the yen at an insane rate.

As far as Ruby is concerned, she felt that's perfectly fitting job. In fact, that's what she finds her magic used for in the academy when there is downtime. Besides, she also finds herself at peace when she's able to make herself useful when no orders are thrown at her.

Now preparing to wear her usual attire, she waved her hands and one of the many corsets she had slipped out silently, then began wrapping itself around her. She let out a more pleasant sigh as it tightened around her, far more than necessary. Of course, this is how she likes it. Not wanting to disturb the others sleeping around, she quieted herself though and disallowed her masochistic side to take over.

"Alright! Ready to go!" she chirped, twirling around.

She attached a pouch to her side to hold her spell book. It also contained a pocket to store several talismans. As part of the spell book's ability though, she could generate hundreds by pouring magic if she wished. Yet, she liked to keep premade ones as a precaution so she doesn't have to wait.

' _Well, I may as well patrol the school_ ,' she thought.

It was also to help clear her mind a little and contemplate on herself. She didn't plan on becoming distracted today, but that dream did remind her that there were still some mysteries surrounding her parent's death.

She hummed. ' _Was that voice that called out to me...my mother or father?_ '

The witch never really thought about it since, in the end, it was confirmed that both died.

Groaning, Ruby rubbed her head and then shook. "Argh! This is no good! I won't be as useful to anyone if I'm like this."

Ignoring the lingering questions and the pain she felt in her heart over her parents, she tried to think more positively around the people that were still alive and cared.

Leaving her dorm room and trying to ensure she didn't wake any other girls or faculty up, she slipped past her neighbor, Ms. Nekonome, whose snores could be heard echoing into the hallways.

Ruby could not help but let a sweat drop fall. By now, most around would have gotten used to her cat-like snores, including her, so was there any reason to try to be quiet?

Regardless, the witch exited the dorm silently. It was dark, yet there was a tint of red beginning to show. If she looked out, she could see a sliver of the red sky starting to brighten.

Ruby breathed in the dead air and channeled her magic. In an instant, her body had shrunk and disappeared in a flurry of black feathers as she transformed into a raven.

Flapping high, she could see the girl's dorm and across a few hundred meters is the boy's dorm room. Between them is a path of cleared trees that leads to the academy.

Following the path, Ruby enjoyed the cool night breeze as she soared, scanning her surroundings and letting her thoughts roam about the events of her friends and herself so far.

' _Things are going to be different_.'

That much was an understatement.

Moka Akashiya is no longer two personalities, but a blend with the friendliness and affection of her mother and the battle-readiness of her released form. Even though it's been six months, everyone is still getting used to the new personality.

Tsukune Aono is now a full Shinso vampire. Literally risking his life to get to this state, Ruby admired him to the bottom of her heart. He had chosen the life of the academy and to become the headmaster once he graduates, as Mikogami had passed down in his wishes. The thought of serving under the orders of her "owner" sent shivers down her current feathery form. For now, it would still be a while especially as Moka's father, Issa Shuzen, trains him in order to better protect the school when he becomes ready.

Other than that, the rest of the harem have resolved themselves even further to become a permanent part of Tsukune's life. Given his future role, it wouldn't be a surprise if everyone continued to be involved in Youkai Academy for the next generation. That would definitely be true for her, at least.

Staring at the school, she felt a great pride well within her. So many memories made here and more to certainly come. She had long thought that only the Sunflower field she lived in with her master would be the only important place, but that isn't the case anymore.

She didn't know where the headmaster is, whether he died in the self-destruction of Alucard along with Touhou...or perhaps just disappeared, finally letting himself retire conveniently.

Regardless, Ruby knew the safety of the school needed to be ensured more than ever. More outsiders will become aware of the existence of "monsters" and other Youkai beings. There will also be threats from remaining factions of Fairy Tale, one of them being led by Kiria.

So the question remains, who is currently in charge of the academy?

' _Wait a minute..._ ' Ruby began in her mind, perching herself on the rooftop of the school and transforming back into her true form.

' _...technically, I am?!_ ' she finished her thought and grabbed her head in a panic.

Even now, the witch still couldn't believe it and she certainly didn't feel that she should be the one in charge. Technically though, the mysterious bus driver, Nurari is the one truly in charge, having led Tsukune and the whole newspaper club for years while remaining in minimal sight.

It's crazy to think that such a commanding being would simply be a driver for the school, yet someone that even Mikogami bowed under. Could he be the puppeteer for the three Dark Lords?

Ruby shivered, hugging herself the more she thought about it.

"This is too crazy."

That much is certain, but normal considering the area she was standing within. Reminded of her role, she remembered the bus driver's instructions for her:

" _You are in charge of the school and acting headmaster, performing any duties as necessary. Until Tsukune is properly trained under Issa and graduates, take great care of the school and Great Barrier._ "

Ruby could not help but yell into the air. "Ah! What if I don't want to be in charge?! I'm not suited for this kind of thing!"

Despite her worry, it seemed that she didn't need to do anything different than what she was already doing before under Mikogami. For the most part, she continued to fill in for teachers, remained the newspaper club advisor, and cleaned up wherever she could. It's really the future she's worried about.

The witch is certainly not headmaster material and could never give off the same aura as Mikogami or Nurari, nor does she want to give such a scare to others.

For now, this role is only known to herself, Nurari, Issa, and a few faculty members. She refused to tell Tsukune and everyone, less they treat her differently.

They probably wouldn't anyways. Somehow, she is even certain about that, which makes her feel a little silly.

It helps that many students don't think much of the headmaster, especially since Mikogami kept his presence minimal around the school grounds. In fact, those who knew were too scared to even walk past the headmaster's office thanks to his ominous and threatening presence.

The good thing is, his office still held some of his presence...so much so that even Ruby avoided it.

' _Just keep on doing what you're supposed to, Ruby,_ ' the witch told herself and sighed. Thinking about her temporary role would only add anxiety to her usual duties.

Slumping down, she watched the red sky slowly brighten in front of her and gave a weak smile.

' _But still...it's not all that bad...eh?_ '

Ruby's thoughts were interrupted as she saw a shadow blur past some trees in her vision. She sensed out her surroundings and confirmed a presence that was making its way towards the girl's dorm. Who could be out so late?

"Looks like a pervert..."

Ruby nodded, agreeing with the sudden female voice. "It could be, but who-"

Ruby froze, then her head turned jaggedly to see Mizore sitting next to her, a lollipop in her mouth and her cool gaze staring into the dead forest below.

"Wah!"

Ruby nearly stumbled but caught herself, pointing at the Yuki-onna while grabbing her chest.

"When did you come?!"

Mizore twirled her lollipop in response, a small amused smile painting her face.

"It was too hot in the dorm. I think the AC isn't working for some rooms..."

Ruby blinked a few times, remembering she woke up in a sweat too and it wasn't cold either.

' _Oh...so maybe that was why I was sweaty..._ '

The snow maiden continued, "...so I decided to wander around for a bit to cool off. Then, I saw you leaving out, so...I decided to follow you."

She claimed it so proudly with her eyes twinkling that Ruby didn't know how to reply. Instead, she let her head hang and sigh. As expected from a professional stalker.

"A-ah...yeah, that sounds about right, I guess."

Mizore hummed and then stood up. "So, are we going to catch the pervert?"

"Well, we shouldn't assume it's a pervert, Mizore."

The Yuki-onna narrowed her eyes and pulled out the lollipop in her mouth, now twirling it in her hand.

"You're right...it could be an assassin and a pervert."

The witch closed her eyes and gave a resigned smile, then stood up as well. Really, at this hour when girls would slowly start to wake up and get changed, it probably was a pervert. This would normally be an opportunity for someone like Gin to sneak in some photos, except that the werewolf had already graduated. He'd be more likely to take photos of college girls now.

Well regardless, Ruby would find out who was out at this hour and it appeared she would be receiving Mizore's help as well. She didn't mind it in the least and actually enjoyed some company from one of her friends.

"Alright," the witch agreed, "...just please do not go overboard. We'll try to capture whoever is slipping through the trees and it shouldn't involve freezing them."

Mizore nodded and popped back the lollipop into her mouth. She smirked, the stick turning upwards as she did.

"You know, if I didn't know you well, you can actually sound like an adult sometimes," Mizore noted.

Ruby grew shocked by the statement, wondering if she should feel happy or offended. Instead, she found herself growing embarrassed.

"Um...thank you?"

Knowing that she couldn't leave it at that, she tried to prop herself a bit. Closing her eyes and clearing her throat, she let her finger point upward with a proud smile, "I am your advisor after all."

Opening her eyes, she sees a bit of Mizore's purple hair as the snowgirl had already dropped down without listening any further to the witch.

Ruby waved her hands in a panic, then followed the cold girl with a stammer.

"W-wait, hold up! Oh...why is my morning starting out like this?"

To say things will be different is quite the understatement and that fact won't just apply to everyone but her.

For the witch...many, many things are about to unfold.


	3. One moment human, the next

Standing behind one of the many dead trees that sported the academy grounds, Ruby peeked ahead where she saw the suspicious figure make its way towards the girls dormitory. She couldn't tell whether the figure was a boy or girl as the morning was still young and light hadn't made its way past the dormitory building.

"I find your form lacking, Ruby."

The witch's attention turned to the whispering voice of Mizore as she stood behind her, gazing solemnly. The witch could only curl her lips at the unexpected criticism.

"You've had far more experience sneaking around, Mizore," Ruby defended though, she wondered why she was even bothering trying to make excuses to the stalker.

Mizore shrugged, figuring that has to be the case. She then pulled up three ice kunai between her fingers, ready to throw them.

Ruby freaked out and stopped her before she could even take a step. She turned her body away from the walking figure and planted her hands on the ice maiden's shoulders.

"No!" she shouted as quietly as she could, "...we don't want to do that! What if it's just a girl like us who could sleep!"

Mizore hummed and peaked behind the witch's shoulder, then returned her focus to the exasperated young provisional headmaster.

"I doubt that. It's a scent of a nervous male."

There is absolute firmness in her voice and eyes that Ruby almost felt like trusting her judgment. Instead, she closed her eyes and shook her head, feeling silly at the way they were going about it.

"Honestly, we're just going to keep misunderstanding things like this. I'll just talk to the person and confirm their intentions."

Mizore hummed again and eyes flashed. The lollipop in her mouth turned upwards as she smiled.

"...and if it's a perverted assassin, then I'll attack from behind."

Ruby drooped her arms, then turned around and bonked her head onto the tree she was standing near. Mizore raised her eyebrows quizzically.

"I don't think now is the time to display your masochism," Mizore commented.

The witch shivered, nearly wanting to cry; however, she calmed down and then faced the judging girl with a pleading expression.

"Mizore please, let's not be eager to attack so soon. Just wait for me, okay? We may not have to do any attacking at all!"

Mizore did not say anything and watched as the witch regrew her raven wings and flew up to catch up with the figure who had already disappeared further into the woods. She twirled the lollipop stick in her mouth to the side.

' _She's probably more stressed than ever with the headmaster gone,_ ' Mizore figured in her mind.

* * *

Ruby sighed, yet she could not help but smile a little at Mizore's antics. For the most part, she knew the girl was only teasing and messing around with her. Unfortunately, she couldn't help but get caught up in it. Is she that easy of a target?

' _Well...fair is fair._ '

When Ruby and Mizore trained together to prepare for the infiltration of Fairy Tale, she had Mizore use a whip against her as part of her "training". Despite a small shame in her own unusual indulgence, even she had brought her friends into her own antics.

Except, her antics were part of an addiction she had no clue where it came from. Certainly, her "pain tolerance" never existed in her childhood. Rather, it's only after the accident that she had developed a sense of pleasure for pain.

Ruby blushed when thinking about it, hugging herself and giggling, but then snapped open her eyes and shook her head.

' _No, that's bad! I can't be distracted by these thoughts. Where is this person?_ '

Focusing on the task again, she sees a shadow slip through some trees, only a few hundred meters away now from the girl's dormitory. Without requiring further observation, she dropped down in front of the figure, producing a strong gust of wind that caused the sneaker to gasp and stumble backwards.

"W-wah!"

The tone of the voice indicated a male. Already, that scored a point towards Mizore's inclination.

"Excuse me, what are you doing out this early?" Ruby asked, trying to sound as polite as possible. She wasn't the kind of girl to throw insults and accusations. Rather, she was usually the one who actually enjoyed being thrown insults and being exposed for who she is.

She perish any imagination of it though because this wasn't about her.

"W-wait, I swear I...I didn't mean anything bad. It's just, I...um..."

Ruby curled her lips, wondering if she had pushed too far. Stepping forward, she received a better look at the male and the first thing she noticed was that it was a student of the academy. Based on the age and emblem on the left side of his chest, he was a freshman at this school.

Aside from his apparent enrollment and that the person was a male, he had a slightly chubby physique with a square head, brown eyes, and dark hair that was cut into a bowl shape. There wasn't the slightest of mischief or harm in his eyes. Rather than that, Ruby saw that he was quite fearful and it didn't seem her appearance was the cause of it.

"Let's calm down first. You're a freshman aren't you? What's your name?"

The boy slowly rose back onto his feet which were quivering. He tried his best to answer.

"K-kazuya M-m-mika...th-that's my name and I-I am a fr-freshman here."

Ruby hummed. "Okay then Kazuya, why are you headed towards the girl's dorm."

Kazuya seemed to fear the question. "I...I have to...m-meet someone, that's all. It's nothing bad, I promise!"

"Meet...who?"

The boy tightened his lips together and backed away, unable to say. He seemed pained that he couldn't respond and Ruby furrowed her eyebrows.

' _Something...isn't right with this boy_ ,' she thought. Knowing that there was something else other than a person he had to meet, Ruby pressed further.

"If you won't tell, then I can stand here all morning until you say. Otherwise, we have means to track you and follow you as well."

Ruby didn't mean to threaten the boy, but she had to make him understand that it was futile to keep things from her. For the safety of the school and its students, Ruby knew that she had to keep an eye on any suspicious activity.

"P-please no," the boy begged, now dropping to his knees. Tears began to stream down on his face which surprised the witch. Despair filled his face and at that moment, Ruby knew that this meeting isn't something he wanted either.

"You're...in danger, aren't you?" Ruby questioned, feeling like she has understood something based on his eyes.

"No...no, I...I just have to meet her. If...If I don't, then...then..."

"Who do you have to meet? Is someone bullying you?"

The boy cried out, lowering his head and placing his hands into his face. It felt as if it would be impossible to get any answers out of this boy in his state.

"Kazuya, speak to me! I can help! You've made it clear that you really don't mean any harm, but if you're in danger, tell me!"

"No!" the boy screamed, lifting his head towards the witch, his eyes wide and petrified, "...He...he'll kill me if I don't get to her!"

"H-huh!?"

Ruby couldn't fathom the urgency and the boy didn't waste anymore time as he got onto his feet and tried to pass the witch towards the dorm.

Mizore revealed herself from a tree, having overheard everything. While the boy may be in danger himself, he couldn't be allowed to go near any other student in his state.

Ice froze in a lane before her, reaching Kazuya's feet and entrapping it in ice in mere moments.

Kazuya let out a yelp as he fell, dropping to the dirt in front of him. He began clawing his way out of Mizore's ice, digging his nails deep into the ground and making scratch marks. His desperation was evident, but it simply confused the witch as she watched, wondering who was after this boy's life?

"No, please!" the boy begged as the ice traveled up his leg. His eyes were wide as he stared ahead towards the dormitory that lied ahead.

"...I just need to find her! T-then, this...feeling in me will go away. He promised me that!"

"He might be another assassin, Ruby! We can't let him go!" Mizore shouted, raising her arms and ensuring the ice she controlled buried him further. Although Ruby had asked her to not freeze, it was clear that this wasn't a silly excursion of a boy's hormones.

Ruby bit her lips as she thought, but given the reluctance and panic within the boy, she found no choice but to use her own magic to gain a better understanding of the situation.

"Mizore, it's alright! Let me handle this!" the witch reassured.

Mizore paused for a moment but as soon as she saw the witch pull out a talisman, she let her ice recede and melt.

Kazuya quickly pulled out and was about to run away from the two, but Ruby was quick to slap a talisman onto his forehead. With two fingers on top, she whispered some words.

Kazuya froze in place, his mind growing numb as the witch's spell took effect. Although he wanted to scream, he couldn't. His eyes closed halfway and he stared at the witch, a willingness now entered his mind.

"Now, tell me exactly who did you plan on meeting?" Ruby asked.

There was some hesitancy in answering, but ultimately he couldn't resist the spell.

"Moka...Akashiya," he answered in a strained, crackling voice.

Ruby frowned, but pushed any thought over her vampire friend away. She highly doubted the vampire knew about this boy but would gather his intentions first.

"...and what will happen when you meet her?"

The talisman glowed purple on his forehead. Tears started to stream from his nearly dead eyes. A burning sensation filled his body that made him want to cry out.

"Ga...I...don't know. I..."

Ruby narrowed her eyes, trying to use her abilities to sense anything amiss about the freshman. The more she searched him out with her magic, the more surprised she felt.

' _Wait a minute...this feeling. He's...human!_ ' Ruby thought, now coming to a conclusion to what she felt amiss about him.

Usually, it would be quite easy for her to determine whether a person is a Youkai or a human, yet there was something unsettling about him that she couldn't quite pinpoint. It had made it quite non-obvious.

"Kazuya, you're human, aren't you?"

"Y-yes."

The boy answered with less hesitancy on that note, confirming Ruby's detection. Mizore widened her eyes at that answer.

There should have been more of a clamp down on enrollment to ensure people like Hokuto or Tsukune didn't slip in. There was the dream of Mikogami to eventually have a school where both humans and non-humans could learn together and about each other; however, that dream was still far away.

So the question is, how did someone like him manage to enter the Great Barrier? Shouldn't Nurari be the first to notice something human like him? Certainly, he was already aware that Tsukune was human before he even stepped onto the grounds three years ago.

"Then, let me ask...who sent you, Kazuya and how did you get into this academy?"

This must have been the question he most feared to answer, first only to revealing who he had to find. He grunted, trying to resist the control of Ruby's talisman with more fervor.

"N-no...I...please, I...can't say his name or...else..."

The poison in him grew stronger, burning through his arms and causing sweat to break out in his back. Neither Ruby nor Mizore felt anything though coming from the boy.

"...or else what? Nobody can hurt you and we'll protect you, I promise. Just tell us."

Ruby bent down and placed a hand onto the boy's shoulder, revealing a warm and reassuring smile. The sight honestly surprised the boy, having been around the monster school only a little while.

"If it helps, I'm practically human too! I don't know if you've had trouble so far, but I promise to use my power to make it right. You don't seem that bad of a guy..."

Empathy seemed to have broken down his resistance as the talisman on his forehead pushed him ahead to answer.

"Ki...ria...Yo...no! Get away!"

"Ruby, above you!"

Ruby's eyes slowly widened and before she could think upon such a familiar enemy's name, Mizore's shout alerted her to something that had begun closing in on her.

After Kazuya spoke the perpetrator's name, the burning sensation had completely filled his arm causing it to stretch out and bulk with mass. It turned beet red and shadowed the witch when her guard was down, completely ignoring the talisman's power as if it were something entirely separate.

' _What...?_ '

Ruby's confusion over the sudden transformation of the boy's arm couldn't linger as the massive arm descended, slamming into the witch's side and then shooting her away from Kazuya's view into the trees.

As the witch crashed into a couple trees causing dirt and the sound of crushed bark to echo, Mizore took immediate action. However worried she felt for the witch, she knew that she would be okay given her inhuman pain tolerance and Youkai blood.

Lifting both arms that were covered in ice, she shot out several shards of ice at the boy. Still under the influence of the talisman, he could do nothing, but his irregular arm at his side could.

It twisted behind him with a crack and then blocked the shards on its own accord with its now hardened skin.

"No...no...I didn't mean to...say it. I..."

Mizore stopped herself from sending another bolt of ice as she heard the man weep. His unnatural arm looked odd compared to his rather small chubby body, but that wasn't going to last for long.

Tears formed on his uniform as the rest of his body imitated his arm. Sounds of snapping and bones cracking caused the snow maiden to wince. She had to do something quickly.

Before that, the talisman that had loosely clung to Kazuya's head finally snapped in half, unable to bear the foreign energy that seemed to be filling up the boy. It was no mistake that there hadn't been the slight bit of Youki seeping out of him, but that clearly wasn't the case anymore.

"Oh god! No, I don't want to turn into a monster! Someone, please save me!"

Without the talisman to inhibit his mind, he now became fully aware of his own predicament and wailed, desperation in his voice.

Mizore lunged closer and swiped her arm, now using the most of her Youki to completely incase the freshman in ice.

The air dropped in temperature as she extended her energy out, then she brought her hands, surrounded by ice, together. In one motion, a small blizzard escaped from her body, enshrouding the transforming freshman in a fast building ice prison.

Kazuya screamed louder, not because of the ice but thanks to his own body becoming agitated, unable to control it any longer. His voice was cut off though as soon as his cold encasement was completed.

Mizore dropped her arms and allowed her blizzard to end, waiting for a bit to ensure that the freshman wasn't going to escape. She could only see his back, but seeing how there was little movement after ten or fifteen seconds, she felt it was safe enough to switch attention to the witch. This wasn't over by a long shot, but at least she gave herself time to check on her witch friend.

"Ruby!"

The ice girl ran towards the witch's side who had fallen onto her bottom along with broken trees. She had dirt over her face thanks to the unexpected slap, but other than that, she appeared fine. Being a witch allowed her to heal herself however the shock over how things turned out still caused her to stare wide-eyed towards the now frozen freshman.

"Are you okay?" Mizore asked, even though she knew the answer. She moved to reach over and pulled the witch back onto her feet.

The witch silently accepted her hand, not taking her eyes off of Kazuya. Several questions went through her mind.

"...I...could have sworn he was human. There wasn't an ounce of Youki in him," Ruby stated, her voice filled with disbelief.

The snow maiden hummed and stared back at her own work. The lollipop stick in her mouth turned downward as she expressed he displeasure.

"I didn't feel anything either and he even smelled like a human too, now that I think of it. I heard him say Kiria. Do you think...?"

Ruby nodded, her eyebrows furrowing as she frowned. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure he did something to this boy and somehow got him into this school. However he did it though, this is different from Hokuto. I would have known if he had performed some kind of injection on him."

"I don't like the sound of that. So you think he'll be forcing regular people to become assassins?"

Ruby lowered her head as she stared at the ground, not liking the possibility of what Mizore was suggesting. This was far worse than just having Youkai monsters hired to kill herself and her friends. It meant that innocent people were getting caught in the crosshair as well.

Mizore placed her icy claws on her hips. "Well anyways, it's a good thing we saw him. If not now, a ruckus would have started in the dormitory."

"Don't say it like it's over," Ruby sighed, deciding that no matter what happened, the safety of the school held importance. She raised her head towards Mizore's prison of ice where cracks began to form.

If anything screamed trouble, it would be someone that could survive Mizore's ice. A foreign Youki was filling the boy and transforming him which could be felt. At least while he was restrained, they had time to make some preparations.

Ruby's Talking Book materialized in front of her, levitating and glowing purple. The book cover opened up and turned several pages, settling on a page filled with magical instructions.

Ruby already knew it, but the words on the book itself were important as ten of her talismans faded in and were inscribing itself.

With a wave of her arm, the talismans spread out, disappearing about a hundred meters into the forest, then slapping itself to the trunk. The air above them blurred as a circular barrier activated. With this, the noise and presence within the barrier would not be heard from the outside.

"There, this should be good enough," Ruby hummed.

Mizore cocked her head. "Shouldn't we alert Tsukune and the others?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, having too many people come would make it harder."

"Harder?"

Ruby hummed, explaining her intentions. "I want to see if we can try to reverse his transformation to understand why someone seemingly human could turn out this way. I'd rather not risk getting him killed if possible."

"Ah, I see," Mizore nodded, crossing her arms. If there was anyone who could provide insight to Youkai phenomenon, it was the witch.

"Them, I'm guessing you need me to slow him down then?" Mizore questioned.

Ruby gave a apologetic smile, knowing that she'd be relying on her friend to help her out. She never expected it to develop into this sort of situation.

"Yes, thanks."

Bigger cracks began to form as Kazuya's body continued to bulge out and redden, ignoring the freezing temperatures that surrounded him. A low growl broke out from the ice and a few seconds after, his surroundings crumbled.

Small shards of ice broke out, flying towards the girls. Being that it was ice of her own making, Mizore swiped her arm and caused the ice flown at to melt before it could even attempt to scratch.

Ruby unleashed her raven wings which caused dirt to flow around them. She flexed them closer to her front as a defense. The black feathers on her wings shined with luster, seemingly more metal than organic. The fact is, she had made her wings more denser in order to provide a better defense. It may as well be steel at its current state.

A roar broke out from the red bulking human who now stood around seven or eight feet tall. His eyes were white with no indication of Kazuya's consciousness. It would be fair to say that this person was unrelated to Kazuya at this point and more of a beast.

Despite that, Ruby couldn't help but call out to him.

"Kazuya! If you're in there, try to remain calm. Don't let the-"

The beast roared and started charging towards the witch. Figuring words would be futile, the witch clicked her tongue and prepared herself.

Mizore waved out an arm and sent shards of ice into the ground within the red beast's path. They quickly grew like plants and created a sharp spiky wall six feet tall.

The beast howled, not stopping in its momentum. As it got closer to the ice that should've pierced him, it brought its shoulder in and smashed through Mizore's defenses.

This surprised the Yuki-Onna, hoping it would have at least slowed the beast down. She couldn't help but call out to her friend in worry.

"Ruby!"

"I've got this!" the witch yelled, her eyes narrowing.

Feet of collision, the red beast roared and twisted its body, sending a massive fist at Ruby's wings.

With her wings receiving the blunt of the impact, her body rang and she clenched her teeth as she was pushed back. Her foot skidded against the dirt but she largely was able to resist the force of the beast's fist. Of course, she didn't plan to take on a physical attack without a counter. She largely wanted to feel how much strength the red monster had.

Now that she knew, she swiped out a talisman and then began activating it with instructions. Meanwhile, the beast threw his other fist, trying to get past the witch's defenses.

Ruby stepped aside, expanding her wings out and throwing the beast's center of mass off. With its bulky body, it largely couldn't react to the swiftness of Ruby's movements. It was also clear that the beast had limited intelligence now given it didn't withdraw its previous fist from her wings.

With its main body exposed behind its gigantic arms, Ruby moved in and slapped a talisman on the red chest. She held her palm on the talisman and then finished the talisman with one word.

"Set!"

Producing a gust of wind that caused Mizore to backstep a little, the beast was pushed away from the witch with near sonic force. It could do little to nothing as it slammed slammed into several trees, disappearing into the dead forest with a rumble.

Mizore's surprise in her eyes was quickly dampened as she twirled the lollipop in her mouth.

"You've been practicing with your talismans, I see."

Ruby let out an embarrassed laugh, completely erasing the focused expression on her face. She tipped her head a little.

"Ah ha...it's only a little whenever I have the time."

Mizore didn't know if the witch was only being modest, but then again, she was a fast learner. She could remember how quickly the witch was able to learn Iron Maiden with the help of Touhou Fuhai. Her unbelievable pain tolerance also helped with that.

The snow maiden couldn't help but be a little envious of her. She could spend some time improving her own control of ice, but then she'd lose out on time with Tsukune.

Seeing Ruby made her rethink her own priorities. She showed a difficult expression on her face but wasn't able to contemplate it through as another roar broke through.

Mizore turned towards the direction of the beast, raising her ice claws in defense.

"You could have at least knocked him out," Mizore muttered, wondering how long this would go out.

"If you're worried about being late to class, I can vouch for you, I promise," Ruby reassured.

Mizore frowned seeing how Ruby was misunderstanding her intentions. If she missed the morning commute with Tsukune, she'd miss out her usual greeting with him! No way would she lose out the morning to Kurumu and Moka!

"Just how are you going to calm him down or even turn him back without knowing what happened to him?" Mizore asked, only hoping that the witch had a clear plan since they weren't trying to kill. She wanted to get this over with fast.

Ruby narrowed her eyes and curled her lips. "I might have to perform a seal on him. The problem is that...well, I've never done anything like it."

Mizore raised her eyebrows. "So...is that going to be a problem?"

Ruby looked embarrassed as she fidgeted. "Well, truthfully I was hoping that talisman I activated on him would knock him out, but it looks like whatever Kiria did to him made him quite tough. Without dragging this out or trying a more fatal move, this is the only thing I can try. You'll have to slow him down in the meantime."

Mizore frown deepened. "...and your seal fails?"

Ruby hummed sadly. "He'll die, but...there's not much choice in the matter here."

It seemed there wasn't much wiggle room in this regard if they wanted to have the chance to figure out what happened to this boy, so Mizore simply nodded in agreement.

While Ruby began flipping through some pages on some known seals that may help, Mizore prepared herself. She created a ice wall in defense and some shard artifacts.

The rumbling and growling grew louder behind the wall. Fortunately, the beast was slow and not the brightest based on what she had seen but the snow maiden wouldn't dare want to get hit by it.

Without stopping, the beast crashed into the wall, entering the visible range of her vision. Not letting it continue with its momentum as it had done with Ruby before, she transformed the ice wall.

The ice wall collapsed and clumped together, growing out. Thanks to the beast's slow speed, her ice had caught it's hand before it could leave her outreach. She then began to envelop him from there.

The beast roared out and used force to punch the ice open, clearing his hand but now that he had stopped moving his feet, Mizore made sure to trap him there too.

Annoyed, the beast began to break the ice apart on the ground, pounding it away like a child on a tantrum. Mizore kept herself focused on controlling what was essentially part of her.

The beast roared as it found it was just being trapped in other areas as soon as it broke free. It then huddled itself by crouching down.

Steam began pouring out of the beast as it's body only became redder. This new behavior didn't go unnoticed by Mizore and Ruby.

"Great...he heats up," Mizore grumbled, the lollipop stick turning downward in annoyance. She now understood how the beast was able to remain conscious within her ice as it transformed. Apparently, it wasn't just thanks to its growing strength.

"Just hang on there, Mizore!" Ruby yelled, her eyes scanning the pages of her book with great speed, "...I think we can get this over with pretty quickly!"

Mizore hoped so as she glanced at the rising brightness in the sky. She wasn't sure how much time had past, but she was sure that her friends were getting up.

She was brought back to the foe she had to deal with as it finally melted and broke away from her ice clumps that surrounded him. Greatly annoyed by the snow maiden with its sharp teeth bearing at her, it stomped its way over to her.

Mizore hopped back a few feet to draw away from the witch and then raised her claws.

Nearing her with heat waves surrounding him, Mizore ignored the uncomfortable temperatures and dodged a fist to her right. She brought her claws together and aimed at the same spot Ruby sent him flying with her talisman.

"Hah!"

Mizore let out a cry as she sent a flurry of ice shards point blank at the beast's front like a railgun. Her attack also let out a gust of freezing wind to counter the beast's heat. Given the fact that the beast was able to breeze through her ice, she figured shards of ice wouldn't penetrate him.

Indeed, the shards completely broke down or melted upon impact on its skin, but the force of Mizore's shards along with the previous impact of Ruby's talisman force was enough for the beast to groan in pain, now stumbling back.

Mizore stopped her flurry, not wanting to use up her energy. She let out a cool breath and used the opportunity as the beast clutched its abdomen in pain.

"Just...stay down!"

Mizore dashed towards the beast with her ice claws growing in mass. Closing in, she provided her own form of fist as she slammed her claws against the beast's side.

The beast howled in pain as it was sent sideways into more trees, creating debris of bark around them. With this and the pain Ruby helped inflict, it would give them a little more time before the beast started to charge them again like a berserker.

Mizore let out another breath and turned to the witch, growing a little impatient.

"Are you done?"

"Yes, I'm done!" Ruby pulled her head away from the book and swiped five talismans into her hands, "...If this doesn't work, then we don't need to hold back, I'm promise!"

"Even if you say that, I think he may be internally damaged after what you and I did to him," Mizore pointed towards the beast who was only a few meters from their position. The beast was now propping itself onto his feet but with a clear pain on its red face. That pain would translate into more anger as the beast roared into the sky.

"Well, hopefully I'll be able to heal him," Ruby curled her lips, figuring it couldn't be helped.

"Hopefully?"

Ruby didn't think about whether she could save this boy or not. She only needed to focus on what she could do at the present.

"To set up the spell, I'll need to put a talisman on each of his limbs and then his torso. That will force the youki in him to spill out. During that phase, I will puncture him at several points to accelerate the process until he dries out."

Mizore widened her eyes. "This seems like a rather painful process."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Yes and for that reason, he'll probably try to struggle with all his might. I'll need you to help me with holding him down."

The beast roared again, an indication that they would be charged again. Before that, it was better to go on the offensive given the plan.

Without further details, Ruby flung two of the talismans towards Mizore. She caught them and stared, noticing a glowing red kanji symbol on it. She figured that Ruby wanted her help attaching these talismans.

"So where should I stick these?"

"You do the legs and I'll complete with the arms and torso," the witch instructed.

Mizore nodded, then took off. The witch followed a few meters behind with her wings extended at the back.

The change in formation didn't register with the beast who only saw two people it needed to kill. Seeing how it wouldn't need to wait long to attack though, it started raising a fist at Mizore first given its immediate anger towards her.

Mizore ejected some ice shards at the beast's face. That alone caused the beast to shut its eyes and stop, protecting its face instinctively.

Thanks to that, Mizore was able to get close to its legs; however, the beast recovered quickly and its white eyes focused on the snow maiden's position, raising its foot to stomp on her.

Not letting that happen, Ruby extended her wings, producing two sharp metal blades that extended out. They punctured the beast below its collar bone on each side of its chest.

The beast growled in pain, unable to complete its stomp as Mizore swiftly slapped the talisman on the crus of each one of its legs. As an added bonus, the snow maiden froze the ground beneath it, then slid away to the side.

This allowed Ruby to push the beast down from the force of her bladed wings. Pushing in deeper, the beast tried to grab onto each of the blades to pull them out, but it lost balance.

Slipping and falling onto the ground, crushing any remaining bark from its previous crash, Ruby quickly flung herself on top of the beast.

Ruby slapped the remaining three talismans on each arm and one in the torso while holding the beast's upper body down. Her wings expanded, revealing more blades to extend.

"Mizore!"

To aid Ruby in restricting the beast, the snow maiden touched the ground near the its arm and then spread more ice around, entrapping its back.

Of course, the beast continued to produce heat from its body so the ice melted quickly, but Mizore just used the water to build up more ice. In the end, it was a matter of which temperature prevailed and it was clear Mizore had the strongest control of temperature.

The ice smoothed upon the melting and refreezing, making it much harder for the beast to escape. The witch waited patiently for the beast's struggles to minimize. If she wasn't careful, she may accidentally puncture at a vital area.

It wasn't long before the beast struggles started to decrease as more ice built up. Then, Ruby let four more blades descend from her wings, puncturing the arms and legs of the beast, right next to where the talisman was placed.

The beast howled and Ruby could hear a tiny bit of Kazuya's pain escaping from its mouth.

Ruby curled her lips, raising her right hand toward the beast with her spellbook in her left. She could have been thrown off balance with the current effort of the beast, but she had her winged blades propping herself up like meat stakes.

"Whatever happens...I'm sorry."

With those apologetic words, Ruby activated the spell. The talismans all were enveloped in a purple flame and so was the Talking Book. Each of them then emitted a purple line of energy that met at the center talisman, then extended upward to the witch's hands.

Ruby closed her eyes as she concentrated. "Release."

At that moment, the beast's pained howls stopped and its heart beat harder than it should have. It stopped struggling and laid limp, staring at the witch with hazy plain eyes. A barely audible voice could be heard from it's mouth.

"S...stop..."

Ruby and Mizore eyes widened to see a bit of Kazuya's conscious finally coming back; however, the witch couldn't heed any words the boy said. If anything, him talking meant that the Youki that filled him up was being dispersed out.

Unfortunately, the witch couldn't properly analyze the energy. It also may be that after draining this foreign Youki, it wouldn't be produced within the boy ever again.

There was no helping it though as his safety was more important, second to the academy. As the youki leaked out of the pierced flesh of his body, Ruby did try to perform some rudimentary check of what she was feeling. Yet, all she could tell is that the Youki had elements of fire energy within. Given his red body and heat he was releasing, anyone would have been able to tell that.

Ruby sighed, seeing how the situation of this student was going to keep nagging at her. She did feel relieved though to feel the body mass of Kazuya slowly shrink underneath her. His skin was beginning to regain it's tan color. Despite this being the first time she's attempted to perform a sealing, it appeared to be working.

...

"S...stop...I don't...want to become...a monster."

After a little while, Ruby could hear Kazuya's voice more clearly. Given his hazy expression, it became clear that before, he wasn't telling her to stop. Rather, the fear of becoming a monster was seemingly all he could think of.

' _How could this have happened?_ ' she wondered but knew that she wouldn't get any answers yet. She decided that she'll definitely have a word with Nunari, the academy's "bus driver". It was surprising that he didn't catch someone like Kazuya when he entered. That isn't to say mistakes aren't possible with him, but knowing him, she found that unlikely.

"Are you sure that this is your first time performing the seal? It seems to be working well if this is your first time," Mizore asked, her eyes suspicious.

Ruby curled her lips as the last of the youki spilled. After that, it was a matter of performing the seal phase to prevent any more youki from being produced, if that was even possible. She only wished that Mizore hadn't said anything that could raise flags during such a critical moment.

"Seal."

With that, the energy that was following out of the boy dissipated into the air. He had regained his human form and his voice now faded. Any fears he had were swept away in that moment as he closed his eyes and his mind shut down.

"Is...he?"

Ruby closed her eyes and stepped off the boy, then releasing her wings in a flurry of black feathers. This way, she wouldn't cause further harm to the inflicted wounds by taking out her bladed wings.

Crouching down, her book levitated by her side and flipped to a different page on its own. There, Ruby put out her hand an inch from the bloody opening of the boy's body and then tried to close the wound with healing magic.

A small smile played on the witch's lips as she saw the wounds close up.

"He's alive."

Her magic only accelerated and enhanced the body's healing process, so it wouldn't do anything if a person was already dead. That said, her sealing had reduced the boy to a coma.

' _I should have expected this..._ '

It didn't matter if it were Youki or his own life energy, it would be in a limited state so the body would naturally shut down.

Performing a seal may have been the best choice though without knowing anything about where the mysterious Youki appeared within the boy. At the very least, nothing could invade the boy either.

"So, we're done here?" Mizore cocked her head.

Ruby shook her head. "Well, I can't ask anything more from you, but...this incident. I'm certainly not done here."

Mizore's lollipop turned to the side of her mouth. "Are you sure? I know you'll figure it out, but you can ask any of us if you need help."

Ruby turned her head to the snow maiden and revealed a thankful smile. She knows that Mizore or any of her other friends would come to her aid if she needed it.

"I know, but...you have classes. I can handle it from here."

Ruby stood up and waved her arm, breaking the barrier that surrounded them. Immediately, crowds of students escaping into the path towards the gates traveled to their ears.

Mizore widened her eyes, knowing she had little time now. She dusted her sweater off then waved at the witch before disappearing within the trees towards the sound of the students.

"Then, I'll leave it to you! Let us know about anything!"

Ruby nodded, smiling until the snow maiden was gone. She could hear the faint sounds of Kurumu's 'Yahoo' greeting and the chaos that would soon surround the vampire, Tsukune.

She had more pressing matters on her mind though than to wish she was there to greet him. Her gaze followed Kazuya's weakened state. His freshman clothes were completely tattered and she would have to bring him to the academy's clinic. For now long would he have to remain there? Who knows.

"Kiria...Yoshi. Just...what is he planning?" Ruby asked herself.

She wouldn't get any answers from Kazuya now. The only one she could turn to is the grand manipulator.

* * *

Ruby dropped off the freshman boy into the clinic and gave special instructions to the head nurse. For now, he would essentially be on the academy's life support until the seal was removed.

Ruby couldn't risk removing the seal without knowing more on how the boy came to transform like that. Until then, the state of the freshman had to be kept a secret.

' _Could there be more students like him?_ ' Ruby questioned and grew slightly fearful. That would not only bad for her friends, but the school. Without anyway of telling if there would be any sudden transformation, her sense of danger would be constantly maintained.

Coming to the tunnels that led in and out of the Great Barrier, Ruby saw the academy's bus stationed between. Behind the bus laid a cliff where one could see a great red ocean reflecting the strange planet above.

Nunari was leaning back against the front of bus with a cigar in his hand. He watched the red ocean to his left without seemingly any care in the world.

"I figured you'd drop by, _Ruby_ ," he greeted, letting out smoke from his mouth. His head turned towards the witch and his eyes gleamed from the shadows of his hat. His eerie smile pierced through the witch's attempt to put on a hard stance.

"S-so, you knew?" Ruby asked, stammering a little. She straightened herself a little and frowned.

Nunari pulled the cigar between two of his fingers into his mouth and breathed. He let out a puff of smoke, taking his time despite the gravity of the situation.

"If you are talking about that boy...Kazuya, was his name, right?"

Ruby raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I didn't think you'd remember the names of all the students."

Nunari heckled, causing shivers to travel the witch's spine. He pointed at the witch with his cigar and an even wider grin.

"I have to in order to filter out good from bad," he explained.

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows. "Then why-"

"That boy...I did feel something off from him. I knew he was a human, but there was something around him that felt off. He seemed quite afraid, but despite my own attempts to give him second thoughts, he still wanted to join."

"...and you let him?"

Nunari shrugged as he puffed a circle of smoke. "He had the invitation to the academy...same as Tsukune when he first joined. Whatever the reason, I could only keep an eye on him."

"Keep an...eye on him? He was headed towards the girl's dorm early in the morning! How exactly did you keep an eye on him?"

"I had some of my...associates blend in with some of the students. That's not a matter you need to worry about; however, Kazuya worked diligently like all the rest of the students. Though there was always a sense of stress on him, he kept himself out of the way. Today though clearly was different. Thanks to you and Mizore though, we now understand that there's a new developing threat that's looming."

"A...threat? Do you know exactly?" Ruby stepped forward, eager to know any information that the bus driver held for himself.

"Let me ask you first - what do you know?" he redirected the question.

Ruby lowered her head slightly as she recalled Kazuya's words when he was prominently conscious.

"Kiria Yoshii. I can't help but feel that he was using Kazuya to enter the academy in order to kill Moka. The only problem is that I don't know how that freshman was able to enter the academy and the means that Kiria used to transform him. It was like...a switch."

Nunari hummed, looking to the sky. "This is quite troublesome, wouldn't you say?"

Of course it is! Ruby felt a little upset that the bus driver was taking this so lightly. She held off from saying anything though.

"Has there been anything like this before?"

Nunari gave a surprising answer. "There has."

Lifting himself off his bus, he tapped off the cinders of his cigar and then made his way over the to witch. Reaching into his pocket, Ruby felt anxious over what he would show.

To her surprise, he took out a golden key into his hand. With a final step into the ground, he towered over the witch with an impressive air of darkness. If this were any other human or even Youkai, they would crumble but Ruby remained strong.

"It would be better if you looked into it yourself. To be honest, there couldn't be any better person to look into this than you."

Ruby opened her hands to receive the key and stared at it, narrowing her eyes.

"To...what?"

"That holds the key to Mikogami's office and his personal library. He keeps records of various related incidents that occurred in the human world."

Ruby widened her eyes. "T-this is...n-no! It would be impolite for me to enter his office! I'm not-"

"Are you not the acting headmaster of this academy?" Nunari leaned his head closer. The air around him intensified and Ruby could feel her legs shaking. She quickly nodded, gripping the key tightly in her hands.

Nunari heckled and leaned back, breathing in the cigar and letting out a puff of smoke into the witch's face. She promptly started to shut her eyes and cough, curling back.

"There's another reason though," Nunari began without waiting for the witch to recover, "...Mikogami left a letter in his desk for you. He told me to let you see it when the time is right. I feel that this is the best time given the circumstances."

The bus driver's words don't escape from the witch's ears and she propped herself straight, unable to feel an honor entering her heart.

"For...me? You mean he left a letter for me before he..."

Nunari walked away towards his bus, waving an arm. "Don't let it get to you. You were his personal assistant, right?"

Ruby hummed, calming herself down. Before the grandmaster of the academy could leave though, Ruby stepped forward, clinging the key to her chest.

"Wait! What am I supposed to search for? You said this happened before and I'm the best person to investigate. Why?"

Nunari stopped himself before he could enter the sliding doors of his bus. His head turned, smoke simmering out of his cigar. He took it out for some final words that would answer both of her questions.

"The Tokyo Amusement Park."


End file.
